For Clean, Smart and Profitable Farming.
Major flower markets
The major flower markets in India
The major markets for
flowers are situated in the states, which produce significant quantities of flowers.
Kerala is one state that has a fairly large market without any production of flowers. Some
states, particularly Southern ones, have more than one large market in the state as the
area under flower production is fairly widely distributed. The major markets in terms of
number of traders involved and the quantity traded are in the peninsular and east India.
The major markets in peninsular India are Madras, Coimbatore and Madurai and Tamil Nadu;
Bangalore, Mysore and Dharwad in Karnataka; Hyderabad and Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh;
Trivandrum and Cochin in Kerala; and Bombay and Pune in Maharashtra. The city of Bombay
itself has three large markets. Calcutta in the east is probably the biggest. In addition
to the market in the city of Calcutta., there are several fairly large regional markets in
West Bengal. In the north probably Lucknow/Kannauj and Delhi are the big market for
flowers besides locations in Rajasthan. It is tempting to give an estimate of the value of
flowers traded in the country. As this is a study of the industry many readers would also
expect an estimate. We attempted to estimate, but it proved to be quite a difficult task
for several reasons.
Some of the major
markets were visited for discussions with traders during the survey. (The markets visited
were Delhi, Lucknow, Kannauj, Calcutta, Ranaghat, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Pune, Bombay, Madras,
Coimbatore, Madurai, Kanyakumari, Trivandrum, Hyderabad, and Bangalore.) First, the
traders themselves are very reluctant, for understandable reasons, to reveal their volume
of business. Second, the quantity of each flower, which comes into the market, varies from
day to day. Third, the sale of many flowers varies widely not only from day to day but
also within a day. We realized the only way to arrive at reliable estimates would be to
monitor the markets over extended periods of time. The estimates of volume of trade one
comes across, particularly in terms of rupees, are likely to be spurious unless they are
based on traders reporting of their sales which is generally not forthcoming. So, we
reluctantly present two indicators of volume of trade in some markets with a great deal of
trepidation. The first estimate is based on discussions with traders. This information is
available for some of the markets only. A few agents/wholesalers in each of the markets
were asked about the volume of their business and their estimate of the trade in the
market as a whole. The number of commission agents operating in different markets is also
available to us.
Some estimates of
total trade were given by the representatives of organisations of agents in a few markets.
Two sets of figures are presented. The first is the estimate of trade by individual
agents. The total for the market is arrived at by multiplying individual trade by the
number of agents in the market. But there are problems. All agents do not deal in all
flowers and our sample was not large enough to determine what portion of the agents deal
in a particular flower. Therefore, the figures we have arrived at appear to overestimate
the actual trade. The second set of figures is the estimate of trade in the market given
by agents themselves. For example, the estimate of trade in rose is arrived at by
multiplying individual volume of trade by the number of agents for the three markets in
Bombay and are 31,500, 29,400 and 29,200 dozens per day while estimates of trade given by
the agents in the three markets are 6,000, 6,000 and 10,000 dozen per day. These numbers
should at best be treated as upper and lower bounds for the volume of trade taking place
in the market. The second set of estimates is likely to be more reliable because it is
based on the area of production. But the production areas themselves are the result of
educated guesses of the people we surveyed except in the case of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and
Andhra Pradesh. We have attempted to estimate the value of flowers traded in India. The
total value of major flowers produced in India at the wholesale prices is estimated to be
Rs. 1,219.4 million. There are problems here too. For some states, details of the area
under production of different flowers such as rose which have both varieties, traditional
and modern, pose difficulties. There is a substantial area under production of other
flowers, the value of which is not included in the above estimate.
Although no formal
efforts have been made to organize this industry a marketing system has evolved which
performs fairly well with respect to incentives it offers to the producers and the price
at which it makes the products available to the consumers. Flowers, being perishable and
delicate, make their marketing challenging. Now we proceed with the discussion of the
nature of demand and supply of flowers and the behaviour of market prices.
Flower markets in a few cities
Bombay :
There are three
flower markets in Bombay. They are situated in Dadar station., Plaza (Dadar) and
Bhuleshwar. The important flowers traded in these markets are the rose, marigold, jasmine,
gladioli, tuberose, chrysanthemum, aster and daisy. The produce is brought to the market
by the growers in and around Bombay. In addition, flowers also come from Bangalore,
Madurai, Madras, Coimbatore and Pushkar Valley in Rajasthan.
Pune :
There is only one
major flower market in Pune. The major flowers traded in this market are rose, tuberose,
marigold, aster, jasmine and gladioli. Most of the asters and tuberoses traded in this
market are supplied from areas around Pune., such as Alandi, Solapur Road, Lodi and Supa.
Roses are supplied from Sangli and Tazgaon and to some extent from Nasik. Jasmine is grown
in and around Pune. Producers nearby use bicycles to bring their produce to the market.
Others primarily use state transport from moving the flowers.
Ahmedabad
The lone flower
market in the city is situated near Bhadrakali temple in Lal Dharwaja. The major flowers
traded in this market are marigold, jasmine and tuberose. The flowers are supplied to this
market from villages within a radius of 50 km. The farmers bring them to the market on
trains, rickshaws and tempos.
Trivandrum
The trading in flowers in Trivandrum takes place in the Chalai market. The major flowers traded are
different varieties of jasmine and marigold. These flowers are produced in the state of
Kerala. The wholesalers in the market get the flowers from producing areas in Tamil Nadu
such as Thovalai, Kumarapuram, Thisayanpillai, Tenkasi, Madurai, Tirunelveli, Kottigodu,
Kovilpatti and Chunkhankode. As the flowers are not produced in this region, there are no
brokers in the market. The flowers are marketed by a wholesaler/retailers.
Lucknow and kannauj
There is a single
market in Lucknow. The major flowers traded in this market are roses (red rose used in
garlands and pink rose petals used for the extraction of oil and in the manufacture of
gulkand) and three varieties of jasmine, marigold and sunflower. The commission agents in
Kannauj market deal only with pink rose petals supplied to the perfumes. The flowers
supplied to this market are produced within a radius of 10km. Some of the producing areas
supplying flowers to this market are Alamnagar, Mariyabad Road, Pataura, Narauna and
Baravan. The major modes of transport used are cycles, tempos.
New Delhi
The only flower
market in Delhi is situated in Fatehpuri near Chandni Chowk. The major flowers traded in
this market are roses (red roses and rose petals), marigolds, jasmine and gladioli. The
flowers come from producing areas around Delhi within a radius of 75 km. Some of these
producing areas are Fatehpur Beri, Mehrauli, Farukha Nagar, Chattarpur, Ghaziabad,
Faridabad, Gurgaon and Muradnagar.
Madurai
Madurai has one of
the biggest flower markets in India. The major flowers traded in this market are different
varieties of jasmine, rose, crosandra and tuberose. The flowers coming into this town are
produced within 25km from the city.
Calcutta
The malikghat
bazaar located below the Howrah Bridge is the largest wholesale flower market in Calcutta.
This market has the largest selection of flowers sold in the country. Nearly 40 different
types of flowers are sold in this market during different parts of the year. Any flower
can be sold in this market. Calcutta has a poor man’s flower economy. Small growers
generally produce flowers and it is again common people who make up the buyers. The
quality and freshness of the flowers, however, leaves a lot to be desired. Flowers meant
for cut flowers and it is again common people who make up the buyers. The quality and
freshness of the flowers, however, leaves a lot to be desired. Flowers meant for cut
flower trade, namely gladioli and tuberoses are picked and the best of the lot are sent to
the New Market near Park Street, which is an affluent locality in the city.
Madras
The flower market
is located in the Central Market at Parry’s. This is the only wholesale market in
Madras. The flowers sold in this market are crossandra, tuberose, jasmine, rose, marigold,
etc. The flowers come to this market from nearby production areas such as Dharampur,
Panchetti, Tambaram, and Ponnamalai districts. The flowers are also supplied from Maduri
and Bangalore markets. About one half of the produce comes from local areas and the rest
from Bangalore and Madurai. The flowers are transported to this market by buses, trucks
and air.
Hyderabad
Jambagh flower
market is located near Mozanjahi market in Hyderabad. The major flowers traded in this
market are rose, jasmine, chrysanthemum, marigold and crosandra.
Bangalore
There are two
wholesale flower markets in Bangalore, one each at K.R.market (better known as City
market) and Russel market, Shivajinagar. The former is bigger and most of the wholesale
trade in traditional flowers takes place there. Modern flowers are traded in Russel
market. However, the bulk of the modern (non-traditional) flowers like long stemmed rose,
gladiolus etc. do not pass through any wholesale market. The major flowers traded at the
K.R. market are jasmine (mallige and kakda) crossandra, marigold, chrysanthemums and
aster. Small quantities of rose (loose blooms and long stemmed) and gladiolus are also
traded. Flower arrival in the market is seasonal. Jasmine (kakda; seentless white blooms)
season in the market is between August and January. Chrysanthemums start arriving in July
and last up to October. The demand for chrysanthemum, marigold and aster reaches peak
during October due to dussehra, when buses and other bicycles are profusely decorated with
flowers. Rose (traditional) is bought and sold outside the market premises generally.
Wehre the sellers themselves retail them. Most of the trade takes place at predetermined
contract prices. The city service buses carry maximum flowers to the city market from the
villages and suburbs of Bangalore. Farmers bring roses on motorcycles also. Long distance
flowers are however transported by bus, truck or train.
International market
Jasmine products are one of the most important natural raw materials in the perfume industry. The annual world production of concrete is estimated to be 12 to 15 tons [ITC, 1982]. India, with a production of nearly a ton, is third in position behind Egypt (6 to 8 tons) and Morocco (1 to 1.2 tons). Other producers are Italy, France and China. The major importers are France and the U.S.A. The main producers of rose products are Bulgaria and turkey. Morocco, India and China are the other producers. Annual production is estimated to be around 15 to 20 tons, much of which comes from Bulgaria [ITC, 1982]. India’s exports of rose water increased from Rs. 91,219 in 1968 69 to Rs.403, 826 in 1976-77. That of attar increased from Rs.11.115 to 467,178 during the same period [Chandra et al., 1979]. The leading importer is the U.S.A. as rose oil and its derivatives cannot be synethesised, the demand for them seems to be unrelated to price levels [ITC.1982]. But supply and demand was fairly in balance in the mid-eighties.